Trading Places
by useyourwandbro
Summary: Draco and Hermione have a huge fight, which brings them to the Headmasters' office. Instead of a regular punishment, Dumbledore announces that for the next two weeks, they will have to trade Houses,and spend lots of quality time together...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary.

* * *

><p>Chapter 1<p>

"Draco Malfoy, you sleazy bastard!" yelled Hermione as she launched forward towards the smirking, yet soon terrified Draco. Knocking him off his feet, she landed on top of him and immediately started assaulting the Slytherin with all her might; slapping, punching, pushing, scratching… Shortly, beating the wits out of him.

With the whole school watching.

Most of the students surrounding them were really enjoying themselves; others looked worried. The prefects were looking troubled, as if they didn't know how should they act: call for a teacher or grab a bowl of popcorn and join the others' cheering. No one dared to interfere though. This was a fight between two of the rivalry houses, which meant it was rough, vicious and left no place for mercy. And the look on Hermione's face when she continued to invade Draco proved it all the more.

"Gr… Aghh! No Grang-.. Ouch!" he tried to say something, yell at her, but she wouldn't stop kicking and slapping him in all the vulnerable places (..which was everywhere!). Finally, he snatched her wrists and started pushing her away from him to the side, squeezing them painfully with his hands. He felt her legs loosening their grip on his waist and quickly rolled on top of her, holding her wrists over her head and pressing her firmly to the ground. She started twitching underneath him and kicking violently with her legs, but she couldn't reach him.

"Granger! Calm the fuck down!" he roared at her. She scowled at him and only started twitching more frantically. Draco kept pressing his weight onto her and held on her wrists as if his life depended on it… which was probably the case.

"Excuse me, please step back and let me see what…" Draco heard the voice of Professor McGonagall making her way through the crowd of excited students. When they finally parted, she stopped in her tracks, staring in shock at the scene before her. Draco Malfoy, was sitting on top of her favorite student, Hermione Granger, who was struggling to get out of his firm grip on her wrists. Both badly disheveled, bleeding and dirty from the ground they were wrestling on. She quickly withdrew her wand and pointed it sharply on the two students, making them separate abruptly from each other and fly in different directions. They stood up and looked at the teacher in front of them, who was eyeing them irately.

"Both of you, to the Headmasters' office, this instant!" she snapped, making them flinch.

They swiftly followed behind her, both feeling panicked and fuming at each other. This couldn't be good…

And to think of how it all started! Harry, Ron and Hermione were on their way to Hagrid's, when they met - surprise surprise - Malfoy with his gang of Slytherins. So of course, he had to throw some nasty comment in their direction, which they decided to ignore. Sure Malfoy was far from satisfied with being ignored, so he continued with his insults, bitching on and on about the Weasley's financial crisis, Potter The-Boy-Who-Won't-Die, Granger being a filthy Mudblood and having no right to be in this school and the Gryffindors in general. Pretty much nothing new, really, but there's a limit to how much one can ignore constant insults, especially when they come from someone like Malfoy. So at that moment, something snapped in Hermione and she stopped walking, making her friends stop as well. She turned around and faced him with a disgusted look on her face. He only sneered and continued provoking her, arousing her temper. Next thing you know, Hermione is spitting horrific insults in Malfoy's face, her own face the colour of a tomato. Though Draco would never admit it, or worse show it, she actually scared the crap out of him. Draco was familiar with Hermione's temper, and he also knew that she could come up with very… unpleasant hexes if he pushed her too much, but backing off was _never_ an option. So he immediately recovered and stood up to himself and to his Housemates, who Hermione was insulting tremendously. At first, Potty and Weasel actually tried to interfere and calm her down, but gave up when they were assaulted themselves.

Soon the whole school gathered on the school grounds, watching the fight of the two enemies. Finally, it seemed as if she yelled out all she had to say, and just stood there, glaring at him breathlessly. Slowly, she begun turning around, keeping her eyes on him all the while. When she turned her whole back on him and started moving away towards her shocked and speechless friends, he smirked:

"Psychotic Gryffindor bitch… Must be the muddy blood's effect."

Big mistake.

She turned abruptly on her heels, facing him again with a furious expression on her face and launched towards him knocking him off his feet. After that, the memories became too painful, as he still felt his whole body sore from all her beating.

And now, they were on their way to the Headmaster's office. Honestly, he had had enough of her. She's changed. It was that simple, she has just changed. There used to be a time when she would ignore him, or only throw an angry comment at him if he was being extremely obnoxious to her or to her best friends. Now, however, he felt that at times, she was being even worse than him, and that sure said something. Not only did she talk back at him when he was insulting Potter or Weasely, sometimes she was the one to start it. He would be walking innocently down the hallway, when she would turn a corner and greet him with some nasty comment about him, or his whole House, causing him and all the Slytherins hate her even more than before, hate her almost more than Potter. And Draco couldn't help but wonder what has brought this change about.

Whatever it was, it made them now go to the Headmaster's office, because of having a violent fistfight on the Hogwarts grounds, drawing the attention of all the students. His father would definitely be hearing about this, if the old coot decided to give him some sort of punishment for something that wasn't even his fault.

…

Okay, so maybe it was. It wasn't like he going to admit that aloud, especially not in front of that Mudblood, _or _Dumbledore.

At last, they reached the Headmaster's office, McGonagall knocked on Dumbledore's door and after a faint "come in" they entered the round office.

"Ah, Minerva, what brings you here…" he stopped when he spotted the two disheveled students entering his office. Suddenly he had a very amused expression on his face and the corners of his mouth twitched a little. Draco could have sworn the old man was going to burst out laughing any second now, but the laughter never came. Instead, he continued watching them with that same look on his face, when Professor McGonagall spoke up:

"Professor Dumbledore, I must say I am most certainly shocked and very disappointed with the behavior of Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger. They were the last students I ever expected such behavior from. I've noticed a quite large and loud gathering of pupils outside the castle, and when I went to see what it was, I found these two," she motioned to Hermione who looked abashed and to Draco who just looked annoyed, "having a fistfight right there, on the school lawn, like some two five-year-old children!" she exclaimed, waving her hands indignantly. This time, Dumbledore actually smiled, and just when McGonagall was about to continue her speech, he raised his palm and smiled at her.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall, I will take it from here if you don't mind. Now I would like to speak with Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy alone," he said.

"Of course, Professor," she nodded and excused herself from the office.

"Well, please take your seats," he smiled at them and motioned for the chairs in front of his desk. Both slowly took their seats. Draco expected Granger to instantly start apologizing to the Headmaster for her behavior, being the famous teacher's-pet, promising that she acknowledges her actions and this would never happen again, but she kept silent.

"Well, I must say this is quite… unexpected," said the Headmaster at last. "May I ask what led to this situation?" Draco decided to tell his side of the story first, before the mudblood could speak and put all the blame on him.

"Well, you see Professor, my friends and I were just enjoying our free time outside on the school grounds, when Granger approached us with her two friends, Potter and Weasley, and started insulting us out of the blue," he said with pretended indignation. Hermione turned to look at him in shock with her jaw hanging, as he continued. "So we decided to ignore her, as to avoid the current situation," he gave her an emphasizing glare which only made her arch her brows. "Apparently, she got very annoyed when we didn't respond to her abuses, so she started yelling at me and humiliating me in front of the entire school!" Hermione snorted. "So… when I tried to ask her to stop it, she completely lost control and launched at me. Next thing I know, I'm laying completely defenseless on the ground, being beaten up by her! Thank Merlin Professor McGonagall came then and separated her from me." He finished his story struggling to keep an offended face all the while. Then he looked up at Dumbledore who was listening to his story with a very amused expression, his elbow on the table and resting his chin in his palm.

"Are you finished now with your little spectacle?" asked Hermione, leaning a bit in his direction and smiling sweetly. He scowled at her, then looked at Dumbledore and nodded once. "Good. Now," she said more loudly this time, drawing the Headmasters' attention, "what _actually _happened Professor, is that Harry and Ron and I were on our way to visit Hagrid, when _Malfoy_ spotted us and threw a nasty comment at our direction. Nothing new there, so we decided to ignore him. Then, _he _got pretty annoyed when we ignored him and continued insulting us. Us, and the whole Gryffindor house for that matter," she said giving him a haughty look. Then she sighed. "I admit that I snapped and I couldn't just keep myself quite in this situation, so I started yelling at him as well, but Professor, you should've heard the way he was speaking of me and my friends. He completely provoked me!" she exclaimed.

"Don't forget the part when you jumped on me like an eloped psychopath," Draco stung, leaning casually in his chair.

Hermione gave him a dirty look and snapped, "Oh you mean the part when you nearly crashed me with your weight?"

He straightened up in his seat and spat, "Yeah, the part when you started slapping and scratching me to oblivion!"

"You-,"

"And then," he cut her, "started kicking me while insulting me, my whole family tree and all the Slytherin generations starting with Salazar himself!" he shouted, completely forgetting about the Headmaster sitting in front of them.

"Well, excuse me Malfoy, for insulting your big and happy Death Eater's family, I sure hope you're okay!" she yelled sarcastically back, also forgetting the Professor watching them.

"Take that back, you filthy M_udblood_! You have no right to speak of my family!" he roared.

"And what the hell makes you think you have the right to constantly insult me and my friends and make our lives miserable the way you did for the past six years?"

There was a faint cough in the background. They snapped their heads in the Headmasters' direction at the same time, looking furious as ever. Dumbledore was looking at them with a calm expression, and motioned them to sit down. Only now did they notice they were both on their feet, facing each other. Hermione cleared her throat and sat down, feeling slightly embarrassed with how she exploded in front of the Headmaster. When Draco sat down as well, the Professor sighed.

"Yes, I can see we have a problem here… a problem, of great dislike that is. I wouldn't like to say 'hate'. Hate is too strong of a word in my opinion, even if you seem to disagree with me," he smiled. He didn't look the slightest bit angry. Draco seriously started wondering if there was _anything_ _at all, _that could make him angry, because he just seemed to accept everything so easily.

Draco huffed in annoyance when the Professor didn't continue. "So, when is our detention?"

"Detention? Oh, no my boy, I will not give you detention."

"You won't? But I thought…" Hermione started stopping when Dumbledore lifted his palm and continued, "I will not give you detention, because I want you to do something else," he said, his eyes twinkling.

'Oh, joy. Old coot has a crazy idea for his own entertainment,' thought Draco bitterly.

"What you _will_ do instead," he made a dramatic pause, "is trade Houses."

…

WHAT? Draco and Hermione froze and stared wide-eyed at the Headmaster as if he gone mad. It _was _a mad idea. They couldn't trade houses, no way! Because that would mean Hermione would have to be in Slytherin, and he… He'd have to be in Gryffindor. The thought of that made him nauseous. His father was definitely going to be hearing about this.

"I will use this shocked silence to explain everything, so you won't have to explode," he smiled. "You won't be trading Houses permanently, of course. Just for a week, each." Draco let out a sigh of relief. Well, at least it's just a week. Wait, no. It's not _just_ a week – it's a _whole_ week! Dumbledore continued, "On the near Sunday, you Ms. Granger, will trade Houses to Slytherin. You will receive Slytherin robes and the password to the Slytherin common room. Your schedule will stay the same, and you will already have a bed by then. You will sit at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, and during classes, you will also be sitting with the rest of you new Housemates. You will not be allowed inside the Gryffindor common room until next Sunday."

Hermione nodded nervously. 'Jesus,' she thought. 'A whole week with the Slytherins! And all because of that bloody ferret.'

"Now, you Mr. Malfoy will trade Houses to Gryffindor next Sunday, when Ms. Granger returns to her own House. All the same rules go to you as well. You will receive your Gryffindor robes Sunday morning as well as the password to the Gryffindor common room, and trade the House as soon as you can." Draco shuddered. A whole week in the company of Gryffindors… being a Gryffindor! This was going to be hell.

"Now, one more thing." There's more? "There is a purpose behind the fact that I didn't make you trade your Houses at the same time. You see, trading your Houses is actually something that comes along with the main idea. During these two weeks, I want the two of you to spend as much time in each other's company as possible. I would've put magical chains on your wrists to make sure you don't have a choice in acting differently, but I believe there is no need in that, since I will be able to know whether you are following my request or not anyway." What? Spending time with the Mudblood? Yeah, right.

"Now, if I happen to find out you are not fulfilling my request, I'm afraid it will leave me no choice but to chain you, and believe me that magical chains are not the most pleasant experience. So, basically this… assignment of yours, I wouldn't want to call it 'punishment' you see, is an assignment of two weeks, and as a bonus to improving your relationship, you will also gain some respect for the other House."

Okay. That man is officially a nut case. Pure and simple.

"Professor," Draco started. "I'm afraid the… mutual time-spending will not do any good in our attitude towards each other. In fact, I'm afraid it will only make everything worse. I mean, we'll be lucky if we don't kill each other by the end of the first week! I'll be damn lucky if I survive the week I have to spend in Gryffindor! As to her," he smirked, "I'm sure she won't last a _day_ in Slytherin, let alone a week."

"Excuse me?" she rose from her seat. "_I _can handle being a Slytherin for a week, Malfoy, and be sure I'll handle it just fine. You, on the other hand, will probably won't make it through half a day being a Gryffindor, let alone a week. Besides," she crossed her arms, and faced Dumbledore. "I bet he wouldn't be able to bear spending two entire weeks in my company. Just that would simply kill him, wouldn't it, Malfoy?"

He fixed his gaze on her and slowly approached her, with a scowl on his handsome features.

"Is that a challenge, Mudb- Granger?" he couldn't use the term 'Mudblood' with a Professor in the room. She arched one brow. "Because, personally, I wouldn't mind watching you being destroyed by an army of Slytherins. And if you don't mind that either…" he sneered, "Well, watch out then, Granger."

She narrowed her eyes. "Same goes to you, Malfoy."

"Wonderful!" Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "Then there we have it. Ms. Granger, you will move to Slytherin first thing on Sunday morning, and I expect you two to not leave each other's side since that very minute. You are dismissed," he smiled at them. They nodded and exited the Headmaster's office.

"Well, Granger, you might as well enjoy these two days you have left until Hell starts," he smirked. She just scowled at him and quickened her pace, marching towards the Gryffindor common, sub-consciously intending to follow Draco's advice.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary.

* * *

><p>Chapter 2<p>

"You WHAT?"

Hermione sighed. She has just told Ron and Harry about her and Malfoy's punishment- err, 'assignment'. Naturally, they were shocked. And very angry.

"Bugger!" exclaimed Harry, running his fingers through his hair.

"I know, but you haven't heard the good part yet," she smiled inconvincibly.

"There's a good part?"

"Yes! You see, Malfoy will have to do the same next Sunday." They blinked.

"He'll have to be a Gryffindor for a week as well," she explained. They blinked again, and then a sly smile begun to form on their lips as they went "Ohhhh…" and nodded to each other understandingly. Well, almost.

"Wait, I don't get it," said Ron. "Why is that a good thing, exactly?"

"Because Ronald," she rolled her eyes. "Think of how miserable that'll make him! He promised me Hell when I come to Slytherin, so… we can promise him the same thing."

"Ohhhh…" they nodded again. Hermione grinned.

"But isn't switching Houses is bad enough? I mean, why make you also spend time together? Can't Dumbledore see the danger behind such a thing?" asked Harry.

"Oh come on, Harry," said Ron as he hopped onto the couch beside him. "It's not as if they're _actually_ going to spend time together. Right?" he glanced at Hermione with an unsure look.

"Actually Ron, I think we'll have to. Dumbledore said that he'll know if we don't, and in that case, he'll have to magically chain us, so we don't have a choice."

"Wow… That bad, huh?"

"I'm afraid so. He said it should improve our relationship or something, and switching Houses will make us gain some respect towards the other House."

"That's ridiculous. It'll only cause homicide!" he huffed.

They were quite for a few seconds, when Harry finally asked:

"So… Do you know when you're uh… you know, leaving us?"

Hermione looked up with a sad look on her face, "Sunday."

"This Sunday?" she nodded. "But that's two days away!"

"You're not helping," she grumbled.

"Sorry. Well, don't worry Hermione, we'll make sure to spend as much time with you as possible, so you won't have to hang around the Slytherins too much. We'll try to make it as easy on you as we can," Harry promised, pulling her to a tight hug.

"Yeah, don't worry, Hermione, we'll be there for you," said Ron as he joined them in the hug.

"Thank you, guys," Hermione smiled. "I really don't know what would I do without you."

* * *

><p>Hermione woke up to a soft thudding on the window. She opened her eyes, momentarily regretting the decision. The morning sun was shining brightly through the window frame, hurting her sleepy eyes. With a groan, she threw off the blanket and walked over to the window, to let the school owl inside. She landed on Hermione's desk and stuck out her leg, letting Hermione untie the package she was carrying. Noticing there was no note with the package, Hermione started removing the brown wrapping paper, when she finally saw what was inside. Realization hit her when she groaned again and threw herself on the bed.<p>

Slytherin uniform.

Of course, how could she forget? Today was Sunday, the first official day of her torture.

With a sigh, Hermione slowly lifted herself off the bed and looked at the package again. Now she noticed a piece of parchment on top of the uniform. There were two words written on the parchment: _"Dendroaspis Angusticeps*"_. As soon as she read the words, the parchment lit on fire and burned in her hands. 'Must be the password,' she thought and then scoffed, 'how Slytherin-ish.'

She rubbed her sleepy eyes and trudged reluctantly to the bathroom to get ready for the day. After taking a shower and brushing her teeth, she came back to the room to get dressed. Since it was a weekend, she didn't have to wear school robes, so she settled for her favorite light-blue jeans and a lawny sweater. Satisfied with her looks, she took out her trunk and with a spell, swiftly packed it up with all her belongings, replacing her Gryffindor robes, with the Slytherin ones.

"Just a week, Hermione," she murmured to herself. "You can pull off a week. And then, you'll have another full week to get back at the sleazy ferret."

With that in mind, she levitated her trunk and went down the stairs to the common room. Once she was there, she noticed her three best friends sitting on the couch and chatting, clearly waiting for her.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey, Hermione…" smiled Ron, but when he noticed her trunk his face fell. "Oh… it's today."

"Yeah," she nodded sadly. Then she sighed, "But never mind that, it's just for a week. And besides, you guys promised me we'll spend lots of time together, so there's nothing to worry about."

"And," said Harry as he stood up with the rest of them to go to breakfast. "Don't forget how much fun it'll be next week, when the git comes here," he reminded her with a sly smile. Hermione just stood there, taking his facial expression in, when she finally narrowed her eyes and said, "You know, Harry, I think the Sorting Hat had a point when she said you'd be one hell of a Slytherin." He just scowled at her playfully.

They started walking towards the Portrait hole, when Ginny asked her warily, "Say Hermione, um… where are you eating breakfast today?"

"What do you mean 'where'?"

"I mean, is it still okay for you to be at the Gryffindor table, or do you have to be with the Slytherins now?"

"Oh, um…" she stammered. She actually haven't thought of that, but she figured that if Dumbledore ordered her to move in with the Snakes first thing in the morning, then that probably meant having breakfast with them as well. She sighed, "Yeah, I guess you're right Gin… you know, why don't you guys go then and I'll catch up with you later. I need to put my trunk in my uh… new room," she cringed.

"Sure you don't want us to come?" asked Harry with concern. She shook her head in protest, "No I'll be fine, thanks. It's not as if you can actually come with me either."

"Alright, see you later then," they said as they turned away and went to the Great Hall.

Hermione took a deep breath and strode off towards the dungeons. She was now walking down the dark, creepy Slytherin dungeon, and a shiver went down her spine. She has never been in this area of the castle before. Just as she expected, this place freaked her our, and knowing that it was located under the Lake didn't help ease her anxiety. Finally, she reached the Entrance Wall that was leading to the common room.

"Well," she murmured. "Here we go. _Dendroaspis Angusticeps."_

As soon as she said the password, a passage was revealed that led her to a low-ceilinged, dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. Hermione slowly and curiously observed the unfamiliar room before entering it. The Slytherin common room had lots of low backed black and dark green leather sofas with buttons, skulls, and dark wood cupboards. It had quite a grand atmosphere, but also quite a cold one.

"Well, well, well…" drawled an awfully familiar voice. "If it isn't The Great Gryffindor Mudblood!" Just when she was about to step inside, _his _figure got out of the passage, probably heading out for breakfast. He eyed her in a way Hermione found vey disturbing and smirked. "I can see you're already making yourself fit with the Slytherins, aren't you, Granger?" he motioned to her sweater. Hermione cursed herself silently. 'Nice Hermione,' she thought. 'Of all colours, you just _had _to go with the one green sweater you have, didn't you?'

"I resisted against the temptation of wearing a red one. Perhaps I should have though," she smiled sweetly, cocking her head to the side. He just rolled his eyes and shook his head in amusement, striding away.

"Good luck, Mudblood," she then heard him chuckle. She scowled, then turned on her heels, and with the soaring trunk behind her, entered the common room.

It was nearly empty, as almost everybody was at the Great Hall eating their breakfast. She walked to the middle of the room searching for any sign of where the girls' dormitory might be, when she spotted Pansy Parkinson sitting on the couch with her arms crossed and a scowl on her features.

"Finally, the Gryffindor Highness decided to arrive," she drawled scornfully. Hermione glared at her, but decided to ignore the comment and kept on looking around, searching for the dormitories. Pansy continued, "What took you so long? It's not _that_ hard to find the Slytherin common room."

"What do _you _care how much time it took me to arrive, Parkinson?" she snapped.

"Well, Granger, I happen to _care_ because I'm starving and I want to eat my breakfast, and judging by the time it took you to drag your royal Mudblood arse here I thought I was only going to make it to lunch!" she stood up and went to a staircase at the back of the room. She went up, but then stopped and turned around sharply.

"Well? Are you just going stand there all day or you'll let me show you to your room?"

"Oh," she mumbled and followed Pansy up the stairs, ignoring how she mimicked her 'Oh' mockingly, rolling her eyes.

After Pansy showed Hermione the dormitory and their (…yes, _their_) room, she left for breakfast. Hermione followed a few minutes later. Now when she entered the Great Hall, instead of moving on to sit with the Gryffindors as usual, she stopped by the Slytherin table, receiving many curious glances and even more, piercing glares. She sat right at the corner of the table that was close to the entrance. She poured herself some coffee and put pancakes on her plate, feeling hundreds of eyes watching her all the while. Even the teachers were watching her as if any minute now she was going to blow the table up. She snickered at the thought. She glanced over at the Gryffindor table and saw three pairs of eyes looking at her with concern. She nodded and smiled at them, as if saying she's fine, and continued eating her meal.

She noticed Dumbledore watching her, too, and when she glanced at him, he smiled and looked between her and Malfoy. She understood. There was another, larger part to the assignment she and Draco received, switching Houses was only the 'extra' part. She glanced at Draco who was surrounded by his stupid fanclub and sighed. For a moment, she thought about pretending she didn't understand the Headmaster's hint and just continue eating her breakfast, but when she noticed his face turn a bit stern, she decided to obligate. With another heavy sigh she picked up her plate and cup of coffee and rose to her feet. She walked over to where Malfoy was sitting, with Pansy clutching to his side and stood beside him. All eyes were on her, and when he noticed that everybody went quite and were looking at something particular behind his back, he turned around.

"Granger?" he raised his eyebrow. Then he sneered, "Decided to join my fanclub?"

She narrowed her eyes. "No Malfoy, I'm doing our assignment."

"What do you…" then he looked at Dumbledore, who was still watching them. "Oh, right," he grumbled. He clenched his jaw and turned to Blaise who was sitting beside him. "Blaise, move."

Blaise, who was looking between Draco and Hermione now looked at his best friend in utter disbelief. "What?"

Draco hissed in annoyance. "I said move, Blaise!" he snapped. Dumbfounded, Blaise finally moved with his plate to the side, making room for Hermione. She sat hesitantly between the two Slytherins, and did her best to ignore all the gasps and whispers (oh, and Parkinson's hysterics of course as well) that went through the Great Hall. Draco quickly finished his breakfast and darted through the Great Hall, probably back to his common room. Hermione didn't take her time either and soon she was out too. She really didn't want to follow him to the common room and face him again, so instead she just went to her favorite place – the library.

Meanwhile, Draco was pacing in his room thinking about how unfair his life was, when Blaise walked in. He stopped pacing for a second, only to look at his friend, and then went on.

"Hey, man, what up?" he asked, closing the door behind him. Draco hasn't told Blaise about the other part of the punishment the old coot has given them yet. He ignored him now though, so Blaise went on.

"Draco, what up?" he asked more loudly this time. "What was up with Granger this morning?"

Draco huffed in annoyance. Finally he spoke. "That loon wasn't done with just making us switch the Houses. He also wants us to _spend time_," he rolled his eyes.

"Spend time? With the Mudblood?"

"Yes, Blaise, spend time with the Mudblood," he said. Blaise, much to Draco's irritation, just looked at him and smirked. "What the hell are you smirking at?" he snapped.

Blaise arched his brows slightly and smiled. "I was just… well, I was thinking that'd be interesting," he replied, hopping on the bed. Draco glared at him.

"That's it? That's all you have to say? 'That'd be interesting'?" he scowled. This time Blaise chuckled. "Well, hell! It should be. Especially if she's actually going to do it."

"Yeah well, you don't understand. We _have _to do it. It's either we do it on our free will, or we get chained," he snarled.

"Chained?" Blaise raised his eyebrows. "Well. He _is_ a loon," he chuckled.

"Glad you find that entertaining," he spat and sat abruptly on his bed. He shook his head, "Just wait till my father hears about this… this imbecile forcing me to _hang around_ filthy Mudbloods."

"Your father is in Azkaban, man. I don't see how he would be of any help."

Draco just pursed his lips and with a sigh threw himself on the bed. Yep, life was going to be pretty tough now.

* * *

><p>AN: THE PASSWORD to the Slytherin common room _Dendroaspis Angusticeps, _is actually a green venomous snake, the Green Mamba.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Other citations will be made where necessary.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

The next morning was… tough.

Hermione woke up in an unusually dark room, with a slightly greenish light coming through the little slit in the heavy curtains covering the windows. She sighed heavily as she immediately realized where she was. Wasn't hard to guess, really.

She heard Pansy snoring loudly behind her curtains and rolled her eyes. It could have actually been funny, if it wasn't so sad. Poor, stupid, pug-faced cow.

Hermione decided to get up before Pansy so she would not have to suffer her presence first thing in the morning. She got out of her bed and tiptoed to the bathroom, when something caught her eye through the window. She frowned and first wanted to just ignore it, thinking she must have imagined it, but curiosity got the best of her and she walked over to the window, drawing the thick fabric away. When she saw what was behind that curtain, she let out a wild shriek and recoiled (too fast) from the window, stumbling, as a result, on her feet and falling flat on her arse.

Her shriek clearly woke up her roommate who sat up abruptly, eyes wide and swiftly jumped out of her bed, drawing her curtain, only to reveal her disheveled self wearing a way too tight, sickeningly pink tank top and matching panties, with wand in her hand. When she spotted the pop-eyed Hermione sprawled on the floor, who looked no better then her right now, she visibly relaxed. Her relaxed expression, however, quickly formed into a frown and finally a very annoyed look.

"What the hell, Granger?" she shouted, placing her hands on her hips.

"I… there's this… the window-" she stammered, still panicked, pointing to the window.

Pansy's eyes narrowed and shook her head. "What are you-..." she begun, walking over to the window and roughly pulling the curtain aside. Hermione watched her rolling her eyes and going back to her bad, yawning lazily.

"It's just the Giant Squid, Granger. This was _not _a good reason to wake me up like that"

"The… Giant Squid?"

Parkinson huffed in annoyance. "Yes, Granger, the Giant bloody Squid. We're under the lake, remember? I thought you were supposed to know that, seeing as you always seem to know everything," she snapped.

Hermione blinked and begun to relax, getting to her feet. Of course, they were under the lake, how could she forget that?

"Of course I know that, I just forgot about it as I'm not used to seeing giant, freaky cephalopods sliding across my windows first thing in the morning!" she snapped back indignantly, crossing her arms.

"Well, then I guess you should get used it, shouldn't you?" Pansy yelled, waving her hands. Then she frowned, "And… cephalopods?" she shook her head with a grimace.

Hermione sighed in irritation and strode off angrily to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her, receiving an angry "PMSing bitch!" through the door.

She managed to calm down her nerves after taking a shower and brushing her teeth.

That was until Parkinson started slamming her fists at the door, demanding that Hermione opened it. Hermione, however, purposely took extra time in the shower just for the heck of it.

Finally, she decided to get out of the bathroom so she wouldn't be late to breakfast.

"Okay, Parkinson you can-" she started in a sweet tone, but was cut midsentence.

"Finally!" snapped Pansy and stormed into the bathroom, pushing Hermione on her way there and slamming the door shut in her face.

Hermione sighed and stepped over to her dresser to get ready for the day. She took out her new uniform and changed.

Well, that certainly was not something she would've imagined to happen.

Her, Hermione Granger, a proud Gryffindor, wearing silver-green Slytherin robes. It made her feel… defeated, humiliated, oppressed. It felt like someone was stumping ruthlessly on her Gryffindor pride. What was Dumbledore thinking when he assigned them to this? What respect would it make them gain towards their rival House? Ron was right, more chances it'll cause more hate towards each other.

With just a few minutes left until breakfast, Hermione did some last touches on her now somewhat decent hair and fixed her robes. With a last glance at the mirror, she threw her school bag over her shoulder and stepped out of the room with her head held high.

Too high, apparently.

She wasn't used to the climbing Slytherin staircase, so she found herself slipping a few good steps down, shrieking loudly all the way. When she almost reached the end of the staircase, she managed to stop her wild ride by clutching awkwardly to the stair-rails. Her heart was pounding violently in her chest as she stood there a few more seconds, trying to catch her breath.

"Thought lions were considered graceful," said a mocking voice. Hermione closed her eyes, took a deep breath and lifted her head to face Malfoy. She straightened out and flipped her hair over her shoulder, grumbling a "Shut up" in his direction, as she went down the few remaining steps and headed towards the exit Wall. Draco chuckled and followed her.

They were walking down the corridor that led to the Great Hall, when Draco broke the silence.

"So," he started. "I suppose we should discuss the following two weeks. Just so there'll be no misunderstandings, you know?"

"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "Yes, we should."

"Alright. I guess the sitting arrangements are settled, since the goon is watching us. Now…"  
>"Dumbledore is <em>not <em>a 'goon'. He's the wisest…" she started defending her Headmaster, but was cut shortly before she managed to make her point.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Granger," he waved his hand impatiently at her, receiving a glare. "_Anyway,_ what about classes?"

"Same. I bet the teachers know about this… They might even be Dumbledore's source."

He nodded. "Right. Well, I suppose that should do it? Sharing a seat during meals and classes?"  
>"Well…" she looked uncertain. "Dumbledore clearly told us 'not to leave each other's side'…"<p>

He sighed loudly.  
>"Look Granger, I understand your eagerness to spend loads of time with me, but seriously you have to give me some space," he smirked. She narrowed her eyes and felt herself exploding, and this time – she was going to shut him up.<p>

"Draco Malfoy! For your information, I'm not enjoying this any more than you do! I don't know _why _Dumbledore assigned us to this when, in fact, I would rather serve a month of detentions with Snape than have to suffer your blasted company for two bloody weeks! So I suggest you to keep your little side-remarks and opinions to yourself and work your way to my good side, if you want to make it through the next week _alive_!" she finished in a threatening tone.

Draco gaped at her. Then, when he realized she was finished, he hurriedly regained his composure and much to Hermione's annoyance, merely sneered at her and continued walking.

He _was _a bit taken aback by her emotional speech, but he wouldn't let it show. Besides, he was going through exactly the same thing and was finding the idea of spending two weeks in the close company of Potter's Mudblood friend anything but pleasant. And sure he couldn't blame her for feeling the same way and dreading these two weeks as much as him, because, well… he wasn't exactly a gift either, and honestly, if it was anybody else, he was going to feel sorry for them for the way they would have to spend these fourteen days. However, as it wasn't just anybody, but _Granger,_ he felt anything but sorry and was determined to have as much fun with it as he only could… at least until next Sunday.

* * *

><p>Breakfast has been a relatively quite event.<p>

Hermione and Draco sat by each other's side, not talking, only focusing on their plates. By now, everybody already knew about what they had to do, so no one dared to speak or even look funny at Draco, fearing he might be in a rather foul mood. They _were_ however, shamelessly sending _Hermione_ their best Death Glares and scowls. Hermione found herself doing a poor job of ignoring this collective expression of 'affection' and was squirming in her seat through the whole meal. The first day of Torture just begun, and she was already feeling nauseous.

She never felt so unwanted and out of place in her entire life, so lonely and so… homesick, like she did that morning. Well… maybe only at the beginning of her first year when she heard Ron and Harry laugh at her being a stuck up know-it-all. Only now, rather than being eager to go back to her parents like she did five years ago, she missed her friends terribly and wished she could go back to her House where she belonged, to Gryffindor.

Hermione didn't know what had suddenly made her feel so insecure again. After all, she wasn't expecting anything else from the Slytherins. She knew they would be less than happy about her stopgap stay in their House – they had all the reasons to, really.

She wasn't just an outsider who simply didn't belong to their House – she was as an unwanted of a guest there as one could be. First, she was a Gryffindor and a damn good one at that. Second, she was Harry Potter's closest friend, and at last, she was a Muggle-born. A… Mudblood, as they would like to call her.

She got distracted from her thoughts when Malfoy finally finished his breakfast, picked up his bag and stood up.

"Potions," he drawled and headed towards the Entrance Hall. Hermione swiftly grabbed her bag and in a hurry to get away from her Slytherin well-wishers, obediently followed behind.

'Like a bloody puppy,' she thought bitterly.

They walked to the Potions' classroom in silence. Neither of them felt like breaking it. When they finally reached the classroom, Draco leaned casually against the wall with his hands in his pockets. Hermione just stood by the opposite wall, trying to look anywhere but at Malfoy and feeling very uncomfortable.

Draco noticed this. He noticed how flushed she was during breakfast and how she was squirming uncomfortably in her seat under the glares of his Housemates. He noticed how she didn't object to following him behind and how in fact, she didn't even say a word since her outburst at the corridor. And he noticed how uncomfortable she looked now.

Again, couldn't blame her. His Housemates were anything but friendly to guests, he could tell now that if not him – _they_ would sure give her hell this week.

Hmph. Well, good for her.

They heard the rest of the students approaching the classroom and Hermione barely audibly sighed in relief. She beamed at Harry and Ron who returned the smile and fastened their pace to give her a hug. Harry reached her first and picked her up in a bear hug, making her giggle. "Hey!" she grinned. Ron too gave her a tight hug and the three immediately started talking animatedly.

Malfoy rolled his eyes at the reunion.

Barely a minute later, Snape arrived and let them inside the classroom rewarding each Gryffindor with his usual glare.

Hermione went to the front of the classroom, expecting Malfoy to follow _her _this time, when she heard someone calling her name. She turned around and saw Ron waving his hand at her, calling for her attention and motioning to the seat beside him. Oh how she wanted to leap to his offer and seat with him, along with all of her other Housemates and friends. Instead, she had to smile apologetically at him and shake her head, showing him the Serpent on her cloak and then motioning to the Slytherins' side of the classroom.

He frowned for a second, but then understood and nodded slowly. Hermione sighed and went to her seat, already accompanied by Malfoy. She took out her books and waited for the Snape's instructions for the lesson.

"During today's lesson, you will be brewing the Wit-Sharpening Potion," drawled the professor. "Now… who can tell me what the properties of said Potion are?"

Naturally, Hermione's hand shot up in the air.

"Sure you want to do that?" asked Malfoy barely above a whisper. Hermione frowned and gave him a confused look.

"Ms. Granger."

"Presumably, the Wit-Sharpening Potion makes the person think more clearly. The main ingredients of this Potion are Scarab Tree, cut up Ginger root and Armadillo Bile. This Potion is perfect to use before exams," she finished with a smug smile.

"Is that your secret then, Granger? Been consuming it on regular basis ever since the start of school?" said a cocky voice. A few chuckles came from the Slytherins at Malfoy's oh-so-witty comment. Hermione felt the blood rushing to her cheeks.

Snape waited patiently until the laughter died down and the room went silent before he spoke again.

"That is correct Ms. Granger. Five points to Slytherin."

"…"

There were a few gasps and muttering coming from the Gryffindors, but it quickly died down as Snape was not as patient with them as he was with his own students.

Hermione saw Malfoy smirking at her smugly from the corner of her eye.

Great. Bloody brilliant.

_What _was she going to do now? Was she not to answer questions in class so she wouldn't accidently earn points for her rival House? But how could she not to? It was practically in her nature, her oldest habit that she developed ever since Muggle School.

'Well Hermione, you are just going to have to try hard enough _not _to raise your hand. In this pace, by the end of the week you will easily earn at least fifty points to that slimy House!' she thought furiously.

"You will be working in pairs, with the person that sits next to you," Snape continued. "By the end of the lesson, you will bottle the completed Potion and hand it to me for grading. The instructions are on the board. Get to work."

There was an immediate shuffling sound through the students as they begun preparing their ingredients, along with some murmurs as some of them stated discussing their work or simply chatting.

"In silence," snapped the Potions' Master.

Malfoy had been a right, lazy prat, expecting her to do all the work. Normally, she wouldn't mind working on her own, she even liked it better that way. However, this Potion was too complicated for one person to handle on their own and she needed Malfoy's help- err… cooperation. Yeah, that would be the right word.

He finally agreed to _cooperate _with her after she explained to him that is not only her grade, but his as well, since it is an assignment that meant to be done in pairs. This _cooperation_ however was actively accompanied by constant bragging about his "Superior Malfoy skills in Potions brewing", which according to Malfoy, was also the reason he always had such high grades in Potions. Hermione merely scoffed at that, asking him if he was sure that it wasn't thanks to the "Superior Malfoy skills in bribery". Malfoy glared. She smirked, feeling very pleased with herself and that was the end of it.

Until Transfiguration.

Naturally, they shared a seat and so naturally, they argued. A lot.

At least this time, their desk was right next to Harry and Ron's, so she had back up from them. As a result of that fighting, both of the Houses lost ten points, but Hermione foolishly managed to gain them back for Slytherin after her brilliant performance of the new spell they were learning.

The rest of the day passed in a similar fashion.

They shared a seat during all the silent, uncomfortable meals and all the nerve-wrecking classes. Hermione did her best at controlling her hand from rising at each question the teachers asked and she felt pleased with herself when she succeeded. Well, as pleased as she could get from being silent and not answering questions. She also tried harder to ignore the Hufflepuffishly-kind Slytherins during lunch and dinner, which she found easier to do when Malfoy was acting more at ease with his friends and Housemates. At least when he was acting that way, they had one sin less to blame her for, meaning Malfoy's crappy mood.

After classes were finally over, instead of going to the common room she decided to gather her books and study materials and do her homework by the lake, in the company of her best friends. She really missed them today, and for once, she actually didn't mind the noise they were making and didn't complain about them distracting her from her work.

She needed this. This light, cheery mood they were all in, this easily flowing conversation, these jokes and the laughter… She needed a break.

Meanwhile in the Slytherin common room, Draco was having a break of his own. He was sitting in front of the fireplace with his best buddy, Zabini, sipping on some stolen- um… _borrowed _Butterbeer. They were laughing loudly at some joke Zabini told, receiving some annoyed glares from a few fourth years' who were trying to study. When they calmed down, Zabini decided to ask him how he coped with Granger today. Draco sighed and finally after taking another sip of Butterbeer, answered.

"Well, today wasn't so bad, really." He noticed Blaise arching his brows. "I mean, if you don't count the many awkward silences and the fights. And the arguments. …and my crappy mood through the whole day. Oh and the-"

He caught the soft thudding on the window right before Blaise's booming laughter he was clearly trying to hold all this time finally erupted and cut him midsentence. Draco sighed and walked over to the window to let the owl who was caring a letter in.

"Okay, so today was bad," he admitted to Blaise who was still chuckling.

"And it's only the first day, mate," Zabini smiled. Draco rolled his eyes and then noticed the owl was still standing on the desk next to him, with her leg stretched out, looking at him impatiently. He frowned and untied the piece of parchment from its leg.

Zabini watched Draco's frown get deeper as he read the letter and finally, the letter getting crumpled in his now tight fists. "Draco? What is it?" he asked.

Malfoy only handed him the crumpled ball and flumped angrily on the couch, filling his glass with more alcohol. Blaise frowned and straightened the parchment to read the massage written in a tiny, narrow script:

"_Mr. Malfoy,_

_I must inform you that it has come to my attention that you and Ms. Granger have failed to complete your given assignment to the fullest these last two days. I expect the two of you to mend your behavior as soon as possible, as it is my last warning to you. If you don't, I shall have no choice but to apply the appropriate measures. _

_My best wishes, _

_Professor A.D."_

"What the hell?" exclaimed Blaise. "What does he mean, 'have failed to complete your assignment to the fullest'? I saw you, you two were together the whole day in classes and everything…"

Draco sighed in irritation. That old, bastard of a coot.

"Yeah, Blaise, we were together the whole day. _Were, _right up until now," he explained.

"You mean…"

"I mean, that he was being very literal when he told us to 'not leave each other's side." And that Granger was right.

Oh, joy.

"So what are going to do?" asked Zabini, tossing the letter aside.

Draco sighed again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"Now I'm going to find Granger and spend some quality time with her. Until bloody curfew, I guess." Zabini nodded. "Today was bad, Blaise. And it just got worse."


End file.
